Snow spending buries budgets

Thursday

Feb 28, 2008 at 2:00 AM

Seabrook Public Works manager John Starkey said, "Think spring."

Adam Leech

Seabrook Public Works manager John Starkey said, "Think spring."

Like most in charge of municipal snow removal in the Seacoast, he is holding his breath as February ends and, hopefully, the last snowy month begins. Snow removal budgets are over-spent or frightfully close everywhere.

"Normally, we go out around 26 times a winter," said Starkey. "We've gone out 22 times since January, and if you add in December's 20 'winter events,' that's 42 — certainly above normal.l ... It really can end any time now, thank you."

As of Feb. 11, Portsmouth's snow removal budget for the June 30 to July 1 fiscal year was over-expended 39 percent, or $117,000. Exeter is already halfway through its budget through two months in the calendar fiscal year. Officials in Kittery, Maine, and Seabrook expect it to be tight. Eighty-four percent through its winter maintenance budget, York, Maine, will go over, too.

"It doesn't take a long time to burn through a snow removal budget," said Russ Dean, town manager in Exeter.

Back in December 2007, Dean said a mild year left Exeter with only 60 percent of its $214,500 snow removal budget spent in the calendar year. It appeared as though some savings would be found. Thirty days and nearly 40 inches of snow later, the budget was over-expended by $8,000.

"It's a strain; it's a strain on everyone," said Jay Perkins, highway superintendent in Exeter. "We run as conservatively as we can and still maintain the roads safely."

"We're going to overspend our winter maintenance budget; the question is by how much." said York Town Manager Robert Yandow. "It's just been a very, very bad year."

While the season has brought few major storms, the frequency of smaller snow storms and freezing rain has been high. Those "winter events" can require just as much attention as a blizzard, and every truck trip hits the bottom line of budgets for personnel, overtime, salt and fuel.

"It's just the nature of weather," said Portsmouth Deputy Public Works Director David Allen. "Even though we haven't had large storms, we still have to treat the roads during small storms and those are happening twice a week."

Most municipalities address overages by taking from other lines in the road maintenance budget, such as summer road improvement projects. Both York and Portsmouth have contingency funds that they draw from in times of need. Both do their best to limit use of that fund and try to skimp in other areas.

Creating a snow removal budget is an impossible task, according to all involved. Looking at historical data on costs, total storms and amount of precipitation can help budget makers find an average to cling to, but it rarely is accurate.

"We could budget $400,000 and spend $100,000. Then we'd have a $300,000 surplus, and people would be screaming. But if you under budget, you're in the predicament we are in now," said Dean. "It can keep you awake at night."

Numbers are not quite at the dire level they were in 2004, when many municipalities received emergency aid grants to cover overages, but it's not that far off, either. As March begins, there really is no predicting just how bad it will be.

"Everyone's going to have problems," said Yandow. "It's just a matter to what degree."

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